When purchasing older bottles of wine, a certain amount of Ullage will occur.
Ullage is the small pocket of air in the bottle between the top of the wine and the cork. Most wines are bottled for immediate consumption, and the ullage should be small and of no concern. When purchasing older bottles, however, knowing the ullage can be an indicator of the quality of the wine. It is certainly an indicator of price - wines with a lot of ullage will fetch a much lower price than those with wine up to top-shoulder or into the neck of the bottle
While we do all that is possible to indicate accurately the levels of older wines, such levels may change between cataloguing and sales. This may be caused by the ageing of the cork or by a change in the temperature of the storage conditions or the shipment of the wine. There is a risk of cork failure in old wines which must be taken into account by the potential buyer. It is Grays policy to open original cases and to describe the level of wine, label and capsule condition.
Labels may be stained where wines have been stored in damp conditions. It should be noted that such storage conditions are generally beneficial.